


Contrary

by orphan_account



Series: Mermaids [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mermaid, Courtship, Implied Mpreg, Insecure Lance (Voltron), M/M, Mating Rituals, POV Third Person, Pining Keith (Voltron), Time Skips, implied sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 02:06:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10957428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Lance lives in the reef, a colorful, beautiful place. Keith lives in the trench, a dark, plain place. Two worlds collide when Keith sees the pretty blue lionfish mermaid searching for oyasters at the edge of the trench, attacked by other Mers. So he lends a hand, helping the beautiful mermaid, in hopes of wooing the other.





	Contrary

**Author's Note:**

> I love mermaids, so I thought I'd contribute to Mermay, with this little fic. Yay!  
> Note: Every bar is a change of POV.

Keith had always been small, especially compared to his mother. He flicked his tail, the tip gently brushing his mother's, who swam beside him. The huge tiger shark mermaid was searching for food, while keeping a hand on her child, not wanting another to think the small reef shark was food. She led him to a cave and pushed him in. "I'll be back, little one." Her hands spoke for her and Keith nodded. He waited till she was out of sight, before drifting to the top of the trench. His mother always took eight schools to hunt, so he had time to explore. He couldn't go far, or the mermaids in the Reef would chase him away. But he liked to watch them. They were colorful and bright, unlike the dull colors of the Mers in the trench. Their fins were decorated with bands, jewels and more because they didn't need to be fast to escape predators. A shadow drifted over Keith and he stared upwards. The sixth school. Keith huffed, but swam back to the little cave and waited for his mother to return.

* * *

Lance had grown up with stories of the Mers in the trench. Exiled from the Reef, forced to hunt every day for a small meal, solely because they were predators. Lance didn't like it. Not that his opinion mattered. He was a Venom, a Mer in between a predator and prey. To poisonous to eat, but didn't hunt on the constant like a predator. Lance wanted to explore the trench, see what was down there. His mother always dragged him back, scolding him. He was barely allowed to leave home, let alone get close to the trench edge. His friends, Hunk and Pidge, often visited. Hunk was a hulking mahi-mahi, dark yellow tail edged with green. Pidge was a slim betta, tail short and a dull green, nothing like her fancy brother and father. They couldn't get close, because of Lance's spines. That was fine. At least they treated him like anyone else.

* * *

Keith grinned. He was now 17 years old and was allowed to hunt on his own. His mother still followed him but had confidence that he would not get eaten by another Mer. Keith liked to hunt near the surface, it was where the faster prey lived. And he loved the thrill of the hunt. But he never breached the trench line, because then the guards would hunt him down and that was a death even his mother could not save him from. Keith swished his tail and flipped around twice. His mother looked at him with fond eyes, before disappearing into the dark. Her senses were sensitive enough, if he was in distress she would be there in a flash. He sought out harder prey then the lingering schools. He stilled. A drifting current brought the scent of blood. He followed it but paused when it led up to the edge of the trench. He carefully pushed his tail back, forcing himself upwards. He stilled again, hands clenching the rock face and stared in awe at the scene. A beautiful mermaid, delicate looking. Gentle features and an elegant deep blue tail. It swished in distress, the mermaid cupping its hands. That's when Keith noticed the others. Not as beautiful as the blue one, but still well decorated. They were saying cruel things to the blue one, in rough motions of their hands. Keith unconsciously growled, rising from the trench line.

* * *

Lance hadn't meant to annoy the others, but it seemed existing did it well. They were saying things about his family and himself, how he shouldn't exist and the such. Then one pushed him. It was a brutal touch and it sent him into the sharp rocks of the trench line, cutting his palms. He hissed, the salt stinging the cuts before he whimpered. They were growing closer and Lance feared his mother and sister would not make it in time. But the growl from behind him drew their attention. A fierce looking Mer, scars littering his torso and tail. His eyes glowed a faint purple, teeth bared, sharp and deadly. His hands were armed with claws bigger than his fangs. A predator. Then a louder, deadlier growl sounded and a predator even bigger than the one before them rose from the depths. Lance was sure it was the end for him.

* * *

Keith felt his mother come, growling just the same. The three others, the attackers ran, er, swam away, at a furious pace. Keith carefully wound his way around the pretty blue mermaid, sniffing at his hands. His mother motioned for his attention. "Keith, we must be going. The guards will smell his blood as well." Keith sighed but nodded. He nuzzled into the pretty mermaid's neck, scenting him. He unwound from the beautiful creature, following his mother down into the trench. Now that Keith had his scent, he could find the mermaid anywhere. And he planned on seeing him again.

* * *

Lance had been surprised. To say the least. His mother and sister arrived just after the predators sunk into the darkness, asking frantically what had happened. Before Lance got to the part about the predators saving him, the guards showed up. They bound his wounds and let him go, telling him to take care in the future. Rosa pulled him to the side, asking what had happened. "Predators saved me, Rose." She shook her head.

"There's no such thing as good predators."

"Yes. There are. I met them, they protected me." Lance motioned, exasperated. Rosa rolled her eyes and shook him off, like always. Nobody took him seriously. He curled in his den, facing away from the trench. His eyes slipped closed. An unknown time passed and Lance was awoken by the scent of blood. Not his own. Another's. Lance found a small net of fish at his window, freshly killed. Lance stared out his window, at the dark expanse of the trench and smiled. A predator, wrapped around his little finger.

* * *

Keith had begun catching more prey and his mother was getting suspicious. "Little one, you cannot court a Mer from the reef. It only ends in one's death." His mother was always the paranoid one, blunt in her motions and words, not bothering to sugarcoat it. Keith was like her, not bothering to hide the fact he had fell head over tails for the little Mer from the reef. Keith shrugged.

"To kill me, they'd have to catch me." He motioned simply, before drifting away. His mother followed, still worried for her child, but somewhat annoyed. But she loved Keith, with everything she had, so she aided him in hunting for the Mer, even gathering pretty stones and shells for a necklace for the Mer. Keith brought him the gifts in the dead of night when everything was still. His mother came, watching for guards, knowing exactly where to hide if a light had passed by them. One time, the Mer had left a note for Keith. It was scrawled with a fish bone, on a plate. 'My name is Lance. Your's?' His mother read it for him and he shakily wrote his response into the plate.

* * *

Lance loved the little gifts Keith left him. It had taken a bit to read the writing, but he got the jist of it. His family had never been so well fed, often getting the scraps from others. But now that Keith was also hunting for him it had gotten better. But the jewelry was his favorite. Assortments of seashells and beautiful stones made them. And he wore them with pride, decorating his spines with the accessories. It made him feel confident in his danger.

* * *

Keith finally saw him again, meeting face to face once more. It had been little over 100 sun cycles since he last saw the pretty Mer(what he insisted on calling him, though he liked the way Lance flew off his hands). Keith had found his way to the trench line, finding his Mer there, gathering oysters off the rocks. He wore the jewelry on his spines, the long quills relaxed against the darker scales. Keith watched him for a school or five, before floating up. The Mer twisted suddenly, gentle blue eyes brightening at the sight of Keith.

* * *

Lance had seen Keith since the second he peeked over the trench line, but was too afraid to approach him. So after a while, when Keith came to him, he was very excited to meet him. Lance gently motioned. "Keith, right?" A nod. "Nice to meet you. Thank you for the gifts." Another nod, before Keith's hands raised.

"Do you accept my courting?" Lance paused at that. Courtship had been a thing of the past, apparently, predators still did it. Lance stared at Keith, who was growing red in the face.

"Yes."

* * *

Keith's mother met Lance the next day, carefully curling around the other Mer. "I'm Raza. It is a pleasure to meet such a fine Mer." Keith was surprised. His mother was never so...polite before. Maybe because in the trench there was no need for such pleasantries. It wouldn't stop a bigger, hungry predator from eating you. Lance replied with the same pleasant, polite tone. Keith liked to watch his mother and Lance interact. It meant his mother approved of the other, so she wouldn't eat him. It meant she would keep them both safe. Keith dragged Lance away, his mother returning to the trench, while Keith whisked Lance away from the Reef and trench, leading him to the sandbar he visited. His friend, a great white Mer named Shiro had shown it to him, away from his mother's watchful sight. Keith climbed up onto the sandbar, upper body above the water, but his tail still being kept wet. Lance followed. Here, they could actually speak.

"So why do you like me?" Lance asked. His voice was just as Keith imagined it, soft, gentle and harmonious. Keith thought for a moment.

"Because you're like me. You're dangerous. But your beauty is something rivaled with an angelfish, so beautiful, yet deadly. It was enchanting, seeing you swim, with death on your tail. It was drawing me in, asking me to touch. I would. I would if I could." Keith paused. "I still would, though I know it would end me. That's fine. I don't mind because your beauty is something I would happily die seeing." He said.

* * *

Lance shook with happiness. Keith's voice was rough, but captivating, inviting him to swim closer, though death was inevitable. But his words, their meanings, it made Lance want to cry. Though impossible, it made him want to burst. It was the nicest things anybody had said to him. Lance had a feeling Keith didn't lie, no matter what. Lance kissed Keith, lips being pricked by sharp fangs, blood filling both their mouths, not that either of them cared. Keith lapped it up, seeking the source and rolled them over. Lance was careful, his spines totally relaxed and pliable. They rested in between their tails, as Keith's claws caressed Lance's back, nearly cutting but not quite. When they returned home, parting at the line, Lance happily wore his bloody lip and red back. Keith was smug, pleased that Lance was pleasured. Even if his mother looked at him with mild disgust in her face, purely because she could smell their activities. And if next summer, when fish were abundant, there were little guppies, black lionfish, and blueish sharks, nobody said anything.

 

 


End file.
